Hello, my name is Phil, and I am from Bergen County, in beautiful New Jersey. I am a very big Devils fan. By big, I mean I weigh about 445 lbs. and need two Continental Airlines Arena seats when I go to the games.

No, that's just ridiculous.

I am a big fan because I've been following hockey for almost 18 years now... I fell in love with the game when I watched Mario Lemieux score 5 goals 5 ways against the Devils way back on New Years Eve in... 88? I don't remember the year, but I remember being blown away by Lemieux, and soon I was into the Penguins and also the Blues, as I was a fan of Brett Hull. I later got into the Devils a lot more, around the playoffs in '94, when I wanted nothing more for them to shut Mark Messier's mouth. Unfortunately, they didn't. But the next year, I got to see them win the Cup, and then again in 2000, and by the time 2003 rolled around, Mario Lemieux was still a favorite of mine, but the Devils were my team, without a doubt.

But, that said, I have an appreciation for the sport in general. My wife (a bigger Devils fan than I am) and I get the NHL Center Ice package, and I love watching all the games from around the league, because I get to learn more and more about all the players around the NHL, and I get to scout for my fantasy teams.

Hopefully I can contribute some decent posts on your forum. I like b.s.ing about the sport, about the Devils, and what they should or shouldn't be doing, and I've been reading the site for a while and love that there is someplace to come and talk with like-minded people.

And what's the deal with cursing? Not that I need to use foul language in every post or anything, I just want to make sure I don't offend anyone with foul language. Because half my family are Italians from Jersey and I work in the South Bronx, so needless to say, expletives flow freely in my day-to-day.

Okay, I look forward to meeting you all and hopefully you'll dig my sh*t.